HONG KONG'S business community is under threat from sophisticated fraud gangs who use cheques that bounce to cheat companies out of millions of dollars, a judge warned yesterday.
Judge Jackson said the courts must take a serious view of the increasingly prevalent swindles, which erode business confidence.
He made his comments at the District Court while jailing for three years and four months the front man for a gang which cheated 13 companies out of goods worth $2.1 million in just four days.
So Muk-chi, 37, pleaded guilty to 13 charges of obtaining property by deception in July 1990.
After the swindle, he fled to China with his family. He returned to Hong Kong late last year to visit his sick mother and gave himself up to police.
Judge Jackson said it was easy in Hong Kong for fraudsters to open bank accounts and order large quantities of goods without having any intention of paying for them.